SSX
by SSXLoverKaoriBrodiMac
Summary: Part One of my series, enjoy! Slow start, but it gets better! Please review, good or bad!
1. Prolouge

Mr. Richard Kyle, age 35, was sitting at his desk one night and thought to himself: _If only there was a tournament that was also a video game. Maybe even a well-known popular sport. Like snowboarding!_ So that's what he did. Mr. Kyle invented SSX (or Snowboard Super Cross). Thousands applied to join and be "one of them", but only eight got in. Little did Mr. Kyle know, he was creating a phenomenon that would be loved by many generations and continue on for years to come. It would include drama, injuries, friendships, crushes, dating, heartbreaks, and more. Would it be worth it though?


	2. Chapter 1

Snow. Powdered snow. There's nothing like it out there. The feeling of getting on a snowboard and just riding the waves of that soft, delicate, fluffy stuff it's just... worthwhile.

That's how Kaori feels. Kaori Nishidake, age 16. Hometown Nagano, Japan. Kaori is the 3rd child of 6. She has an older brother and sister. She also has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Kaori's parents are Hana and Masaru. Kaori has been snowboarding since she was six. Her first board was white. Then, her father painted the back to look like the main character in his comic series. The main character, Orange Explosion Fun Girl, was based on Kaori. When Kaori was fourteen, she found out about the SSX tournament. In two years, the tournament would start taking applications. So, Kaori got to work.

Now, Kaori's sixteen and her application's been sent. So she spends her days snowboarding. You can just clear your mind while up on a mountain. It's just you, the wind, the snow, and your board.

It was November 17th when Kaori was riding down the freshly snow-covered mountains and she checked her watch.

"Six-o'clock. Almost time for supper. Mama's making her famous special salmon, tuna, shrimp sushi. Mmm! My favorite!" So she boarded down to her family's winter cabin.

When she got down to the cabin, Kaori took off her snow stuff and left her board outside. When she entered, the modern kitchen smelled like seafood heaven. Her mother was wrapping up the sushi and her father was on the couch working on his latest comic. Her little twin brothers, Nobu and Ren (age 7) were sitting at the breakfast bar playing with action figures. Rina (age 6) was coloring in a coloring book on the floor beside them.

"Hey Kaori how was snowboarding?" Hana asked. She was now cutting some more of the delicious seafoods.

"It was so much fun as usual. Where's Sora and Taro?"

"Upstairs. Taro is designing as normal while your sister is talking to Yoko on the phone." Yoko was Sora's best friend.

"Hey Kaori! Waz up?" That was Taro. He slid down the railing of the stairs and hugged his sister. Taro is 18 while Sora is 21.

"It was exhilarating. How are those designs going?"

"They're coming along. Sora's almost done on the phone if you're gonna need it." Taro then went back upstairs to keep working.

"Oh I'll need it after!" called Masaru.

"Kaori. Look at what I drew." Rina came over and gave Kaori a picture that obviously meant that Rina still couldn't color inside the lines.

"I love it Rina! I shall put it up in my room."

"Okay!" Rina left and went back to drawing.

"Mama, have I gotten anything from the SSX?"

"No dear, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Hey Kaori! How's it going? I haven't seen you in like, what was it, two months?" Sora was studying at a university hours away and was back home on vacation.

"Hi Sora. I'm just fine. You?"

I'm good. Ryo and I got engaged!" Sora held out her hand so that way Kaori could see the ring.

"Oh, it's so pretty! I love it!"

"Thanks we're getting married the 25th of January."

"Cool!"

"Kaori, supper's almost ready and the mail just came. Will you go get it for me please?"

"Sure thing Mama!" Kaori put her boots and jacket on and headed down the driveway to the mailbox.

When Kaori got to the mailbox, she got the mail out and looked through it. Hands cold, she spotted an unusual looking envelope. It was from SSX! Kaori opened the envelope then and there:

Kaori Nishidake,

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the SSX Tournament. You are one of eight people who have qualified to participate. A packet will arrive soon with more information.

Your Friends At,

SSX

Kaori ran up the driveway, clutching the mail with all her might. She burst into the house like there was an avalanche coming their way.

"Mama! Papa! I got accepted into SSX!" Kaori through her jacket and boots off and ran into the living room.

Congratulations, yays, and more were being shouted all over the house.

"Did you get the packet?" Hana asked. She was setting the table for dinner and the kids were washing their hands.

Kaori looked at the mail again. "Yes I did Mama." Kaori opened the packet and looked at the date. "The tournament starts December 1st in Alaska."

"That means that you need to get on a plane to America by the 25th." Masaru explained. He sat down at the table along with Taro, Nobu, Ren, and Rina. Sora was upstairs making a quick call to Ryo. Hana was putting the food on the table.

"Wait. Won't I miss Sora's wedding then? I could never do that."

"Sweetheart, this a very big opportunity. You can't just pass something up like this. I know it's hard now, but in the long run it will be worth it."

"We could video the wedding!" Taro yelled as Kaori washed her hands for dinner. Kaori and Hana sat down just as Sora came down.

"Why video the wedding? That's what professionals are for."

"Well, I kinda...got accepted into the SSX Tournament."

"Kaori! That's amazing! Why so sad then?"

"I'm going to miss your wedding."

"Oh Kaori. That's okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I totally understand...Hey! Maybe we could video chat after the wedding!"

"I know how to do that! You want Skype or ooVoo?" Taro offered as he stuffed his mouth with sushi.

"What are Skype and _ooVoo_?" Hana asked as she started to cut her 4th sushi roll.

"Hana, it's a type of video chat." Masaru explained.

"There's always FaceTime…" They could barely understand Taro with all of the sushi in his mouth.

"Well, I guess I'll go." If that was the case, Kaori needed to start packing...and soon.


	3. Chapter 2

Elise Riggs, age 23. Goal in Life: To win. Elise is Canadian with blonde hair and blue eyes, but don't think of that as a stereotype for her. Because when Elise plays...she plays- hard. Elise was born in 1979 in British Columbia to her parents Angelina and Ethan. Angelina however, died when Elise was three. Her father remarried when Elise was twelve to a fine lady named Chloe. When Elise qualified for SSX, it really didn't surprise her. Elise is also a fan of surfing, she just so happened to be surfing in hawaii when her father phoned her to tell her the good news!

Mac Fraser is your average American 15 year-old guy from Long Island. Mac loves to skateboard and snowboard. It gets his mind off of the bullies that he faces everyday. His cousin in Germany, Marty Stieber is also a fan. The two of them applied, but only Mac got in. Mac's Goal in Life: To be known as an Epic Dude. His parents are Sarah and James. Mac has a little sister named Carrie who is eleven. When Mac got excepted, he hoped that he'd finally find friends and belong. Sure, there were some guys he met up with at the skatepark weekly, but it just wasn't the same. Only Mac's family knew that Mac had applied for SSX, for Mac didn't want to risk not getting in and giving the kids at school something else to taunt him about.

Zoe Payne however, is a very different story. Zoe is 19 and has been down a harsh road. Zoe was born into a military family. Because of her father, Zoe and her mom moved around a lot. For Zoe's ninth birthday, her father Keith, gave her a BMX dirt bike for her birthday and Zoe's mom, Jasmine got her a skateboard. Jasmine had trouble getting Zoe off the things. When Zoe was ten though, things took a turn for the worse. Zoe's father died at war. It absolutely killed Jasmine. So they packed up and moved to a small apartment in New York City. But without Keith there, The Payne's had trouble paying the bills. Jasmine was a waitress at the local diner, but it didn't pay much. So Zoe joined a gang when she was thirteen and started stealing to earn money. When she was fifteen, Jasmine had Keith Payne Jr. Keith inspired Zoe to quit stealing a get a better life. It was hard to escape her secret gang life, but she knew her father would be glad she was getting out of trouble. So she became a dishwasher at the diner that her mom works at. Because of that, Jasmine's sister, Valerie took care of Keith Jr. That's also when Zoe started snowboarding. When she finally got word that she was qualified for SSX, she knew that her father would be proud.


	4. Chapter 3

"Is anybody sitting here?" Kaori asked. She had never been on a plane before. So considering that she was flying to America and she knew no English was going to be problem. She learned English at school and practiced more when she got into SSX, but it probably wasn't going to be enough.

"No. But you will be. I'm Hiro by the way." He spoke Japanese! Kaori sat down and the two shook hands.

"I'm Kaori. I'm headed to Alaska USA."

"So is everyone on this plane." Hiro giggled. "What's your reason?"

"I am going to compete in the SSX Tournament this year."

"Now way, me too! I'm from Tokyo by the way."

"Nagano for me."

"Cool. Pretty cool." Hiro didn't know what to say, he already had a crush on Kaori.

Kaori fell asleep on Hiro soon enough, but he didn't mind. He had a friend going in. But would he have her coming out?

When the plane landed, Kaori and Hiro got off and found a taxi waiting for them. When the two of them got to the SSX Resort, Kaori knew that it was worth coming.

"Wow. This place is amazing." Kaori said. Her expression on her face was priceless.

"Kaori Nishidake? Hiro Karamatsu? I'm Richard Kyle, the founder and manager of SSX." Mr. Kyle spoke in Japanese, so that way Kaori and Hiro could understand him. "Here are the keys to your rooms. If you need anything, let us know. We start racing in 5 days. Meet down here in the lobby ready and packed then."

"Thank you very much." Hiro turned to Kaori." What room did you get?"

"Room 116. You?"

"Room 217. I'll take your stuff up for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Hey Mom...Yeah I'm safe and sound...Yes I got your check-but I'm sending it right back. I don't need it...Keith's good?...Okay great...Love you too...Bye Mom." Zoe hung up on the blue flip cell phone (provided by SSX) and collapsed onto her bed. The meet-and-greet was tomorrow but she didn't want to go. She was embarrassed about her family. Would anybody like her? Would they hate her? Would they laugh?

_What am I thinking?_ Zoe thought to herself. _I am Zoe Elizabeth Payne and I will face any challenge that the universe throws my way. _Zoe looked up. "Right Dad?"

Elise was down in the gym working out. If she was going to meet her other seven SSX teammates, she'd better be in good shape. So she got to work. Treadmill, weights, crunches, push-ups, pull-ups, leg press, leg curl, weight bench, incline press, elliptical, swimming, jogging, running, sprinting, jumping...you name it, Elise probably did it.

After a long, hard day, Elise looked in the mirror. _Now that's what I'm talking about!_


	5. Chapter 4

On the day of the meet-and-greet, Mac hopped in the shower, then threw on some sweats.

_I should look professional. Not casual. _So Mac put on a suit and got cleaned up.

He should've kept the sweats. Because when Mac got down to the lobby, everyone was looking casual. He turned around to go back and change when...

"Hello? Mister?"

"What?"

"I am Kaori. I'm from Japan. Do you speak Japanese?"

"I don't under-"

"Mac, this is Kaori Nishidake from Japan." Mr. Kyle bumped in. "That way Kaori can speak our language, we were thinking you could help her out with her English Would you like to help her?"

"Sure...I guess so."

"Great! Thank you so much! This really means a lot. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go check on some things for tonight."

Kaori looked at Mac nervously, hands behind her back.

"Well, Kaori right? Let's see what you know, kay?"

"Uh… Huhllaeo I aaaaam Kaori."

"That was good! Why don't you meet me here tomorrow afternoon and we can work on your English a bunch! Plus, I'm sure being surrounded by everyone here will help too."

"Oh...kay, Mac?"

"Yup, that's me. Mac Fraser, at your service." Mac took a dramatic bow, making Kaori giggle, and they shook hands.

Elise was in the middle of having a margarita when she bumped into someone, spilling her drink on the floor.

"Oops, sorry! My bad!"

"No it is my fault I will clean it up." His accent was thick... and french-like.

"I'm Elise Riggs."

"Jean-Paul. But...uh...call me JP."

"Will do."

"You know who I already hate? Moby. He is just _full_ of himself. And _he_ calls his accent British. I also do not like Kaori. She's too...sweet. She _must_ be hiding _something_."

"Well, I will be sure to keep my eye on them...For you of course."

"Why thank you."

"I am not a big fan of that Zoe chick either. She is _such_ a tomboy. You know?"

Zoe couldn't help but overhear this.

"Excuse me, but at least I don't spend my time worrying about looks. You were hogging the workout room all afternoon yesterday!"

"Oh you did _not_ just go there."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I went there and came _right_ back."

"Well, at least my Daddy isn't dead."

"How do you know that?!" Zoe was furious. How could anyone know something so personal...and use it against her.

"I have my ways...or we each got everyone's profile's sent to our rooms last night." Elise held up the packet.

"Well, I will leave you two alone to...uh...sort things out." JP turned to leave.

"No need." Zoe was holding back tears. She turned to leave. "Bitch."


	6. Chapter 5

Mac thought that the whole language thing would be hard, but it was actually pretty fun! So far, Kaori figured out hello, stop, no, yes, please, thank you, nice, sick, hey, cool, and I'm here. Kaori was getting into it too! He was very glad that he wasn't getting sucked into drama at the meet-and-greet.

Zoe looked around the room. All she saw were happy faces. _This is nawt happening_. Zoe reached into her pocket and found her cell phone. She walked toward the the elevator to go to her room, as her speed dial number one started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom. It's Zoe."

"Oh, I would know who you were anywhere!"

"My voice or caller ID?"

"Well, both. But still, how are things?"

"They suck! I have no friends yet, and this one girl-Elise-played the 'dead dad' card on me!" Zoe started to cry again.

"Oh honey don't cry! You know something? You're father is looking down right now and he's telling you that he's still here. Don't let that girl Belize-"

"Elise."

"Right. Don't let Elise get you down. Okay?"

The tears started to calm. "Okay."

"Now you go get ready. You start in what, four days? You should start working out, buying new gear."

"Mom, you know I can't buy new things."

"Check your desk." Zoe looked at her desk in the hotel room. On top of it was a credit card that read 'Use wisely, SSX shall cover all costs (within reason).'

"Mom this is great! Wait, how did you know that?"

"You left your handbook at home. I'll mail it to you." Zoe heard Keith Jr. crying in the background.

"Mom? I'll let you go."

"Okay, thanks. Good luck! Love you!"

"Love you too. Bye Mom." and with that, Zoe hung up. She has some shopping to do!


	7. Chapter 6

Elise got settled on the plane. It was 5 minutes 'till lift off. _To think, four days ago I met yet another bitch. Ha! Like I'm a bitch myself! I wonder where we're going anyway? _Elise just buckled up, tilted back, lifted the purple lavender-scented sleep mask over her eyes (provided by SSX), and prepared to enjoy the ride.

It was 6 o'clock, when the plane taxied down the lane, Mac woke Kaori. "It's time to get off. We're here." Mac told her as Kaori looked like she had awakened enough to remember that she just slept for six hours on a plane...next to Mac...on his shoulder! Mac had a crush...a HUGE one. On none other than Kaori Nishidake of Nagano, Japan. She barely knew English. But who cares! She was cute, kind, caring, and a fast learner.

"Okay. Do we know where we are yet?"

"Nope."

"How long was I asleep?" Kaori was energized, yet still groggy at the same time.

"The whole six hours. You slept like a rock."

"A rock?"

"It's an American saying. It means you hardly moved."

"Oh. It's odd, yet cool. I like it."

"Well that's good."

"Come on guys! We're here!" Mr. Kyle was making his way around the plane. "Get up! We are in Japan for the Snowdream race!"

"Japan! We're in JAPAN!" Kaori felt like a Mango soda shaken up and opened up: She just exploded. She ran off the bus so fast it looked as though she was about to pee her pants.

"Kaori! Kaori wait up!" Mac called for her. He thought that she would hear her name and stop. But it was too late. Kaori had already grabbed her stuff and was on the bus with a seat ready (and saved) for Mac.

Zoe slumped out of her seat and off the plane to find that her stuff was gone. Pretty much all she owned was in that bag! _I gotta find my bag! _Zoe started to panic. So, she went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face.

When she returned, an African-American man with short dreadlocks was holding out her dark purple duffle bag by his index finger.

"This yours?" he looked Zoe straight in the eyes. Zoe snatched her duffle bag away from the stranger.

"How dare you take something that doesn't belong to you! This is important to me! You...you thief!"

"I was trying to return it. I thought you were already on the bus. I was just _trying_ to _help_." His british accent was now more clear. "Forgive me, won't you?"

Zoe thought about for a moment. "Fine." She put out her hand. "I'm Zoe."

"I noticed."

"Right. The bag." Zoe looked at her bag to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"I'm Moby. Moby Jones. I'm from England. I noticed at the meet-and-greet that JP and Elise were giving you trouble." A tear fell down Zoe's face from the memory. "Now, Don't cry. It's okay. I hate that JP anyway. I shall get even."

"No." Zoe toughened up. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "That's okay. I don't mind."

"I'm eighteen. You?"

"Nineteen." Wow. Zoe was older than him!

"May I walk you to the bus?"

"As long as you sit next to me so that way we can talk."

"Deal."


	8. Chapter 7

Jurgen Angermann, 35. Goal: To be known and win for his country. Jurgen is from Germany and never wanted friends. He wanted to focus on his career. He plowed through school and started up a ski, snowboard, sledding, and snow mobile resort in a city right outside of his hometown. Then, he hit the slopes himself. No friends was working out just fine for him! He became friends with Hiro on the plane ride to Japan, so I guess he betrayed his own rule. _Wouldn't that make him betraying himself? _He thought to himself, _Oh well, better get off the plane and onto the bus anyway!_

"Kaori, where'd you go?" Mac plopped down in the seat next to Kaori on the bus just as it started to pull away. Everyone -including Mr. Kyle- was on.

"I ran to the bus to call my Mama on the cellular phone that SSX gave me to tell her that I'm here. I'm going to stay at our winter cabin while we're here. I told her about you and she invited you to stay as well."

So that's what happened. The SSX Bus dropped them off at Kaori's house with the schedule for their time in Japan. "Meet at the lodge at 6am." Mr. Kyle was strict yet fun. He was a rare mix of the two- in a good way.

When Mac and Kaori got off the bus, Mac carried all of their things up the driveway. Kaori ran up yelling "I'm Home! I'm Here! I'm Home!" Kaori ran inside and was squished and squashed in a number of hugs. When Mac finally caught up, Kaori introduced him.

"Guys, this is Mac Fraser. My friend." Kaori then turned to Mac. "Mac, this is my family. My Mama Hana, My Papa Masaru, and my sisters and brothers Sora, Tabo, Nobu, Ren, and Rina." Kaori was filled with energy. It was 10:00pm but Kaori just wanted to stay up all night.

Kaori showed Mac to the guest room and he got unpacked and settled. Afterwards, Mac, Kaori, and her family played a Japanese game called Isu Isa (pronounced Ishu Isha). It's a board game and charades put together. They all seemed to really get into it. Mac taught the Nishidake's American things and the Nishidake's taught Mac Japanese things. It was 1am when they finally went to bed. Mac dreamed of him and Kaori in an ice cream land playing Isu Isa all day and night.

Zoe woke up the next morning with a huge headache. The sun was seeping through the peaks in the blinds. _4:30am and it's this sunny._ When she sat up, she saw Moby in her room shirtless and wet with a towel wrapped around his lower half. "Ah! What are you doing in my room!" Zoe started to panic. She was only wearing a short sleeve gray nightshirt and he was half naked with a towel that was so loose that it could fall down any second. Well, at least her headache was gone.

"Sorry. My shower's broken. Kyle said that I could use someone elses."

"So you chose _mine_?"

"Well yeah...It was closest I swear."

"Well, don't. I prefer not to cuss."

Moby giggled. "I'll go change. I'll wait in the bathroom when I'm done 'till you give the word, okay?"

"Fine." And with that, Moby slipped into the bathroom and Zoe rummaged through her duffel and found a fresh pair of clothes. She slipped them on, just as Moby called "Done yet?"

"Yep."

Moby came out with the towel draped over his shoulder. "Thanks. See you at breakfast." Moby turned to exit when he stopped and turned back around. "Any chance you want to go on a bus date?"

Zoe chuckled. "A bus date? What's that?"

"We pack our breakfast in two paper bags and eat breakfast on the bus together. It's a date on the bus. Get it?"

"Yeah. Sounds fun. Sure."

"I'll grab the food. What do you want?"

"I'll have a toasted english muffin with peanut butter, a banana, and some orange juice. Oh, and a macadamia nut cookie."

"Wow. that's a lot for a twenty year-old girl."

"I'm nineteen. And don't sass me. I'm older than you."

"Talk's cheap." Zoe saw a small smile peaking at the corners of Moby's lips. "I'll see you at six."

"Bye."

Moby popped back in the doorway. "So why are you up at 4:30?"

"I could be asking you the same thing."

"Touche." And with that, he was gone.


	9. Chapter 8

Elise woke up at 4:45. She threw on some sweats and jogged right to the gym. She worked out for an hour, then put on some snow clothes, some makeup, perfume, and put her hair up in a ponytail before going down for breakfast. When Elise got down to the lobby, she grabbed a strawberry/banana yogurt and headed out to the bus.

"Gee, eat light why don't cha?"

Elisa jumped. "JP, you startled me!"

"Why, I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted me...to kick your butt!" JP started to laugh then ran to claim a seat on the bus (Like most, JP prefered the back).

"Of course." Elise said under her breath. Then she ran to catch up with him. "It's on."

Hiro got onto the bus to look for Kaori, to find that she was sitting with some younger dude.

"Kaori! Where have you been? I've haven't seen you since we first got here!"

"Oh, hey Hiro! This is my friend Mac. Mac this is Hiro. The other Japanese person here, that I told you about."

Mac and Hiro shook hands.

"So...uh...wanna start the race together?"

"Sure! You on one side and Mac on the other. Great idea!" And with that, Hiro left. He thought that Mac was a traitor. Hirp would get revenge. Somehow, someway, it...was...on.

"We're here! Welcome to Snowdream Japan!" Mr. Kyle spoke into a bullhorn at the front of the bus. "Grab your boards and get lined up!" Everyone filed off of the bus and collected their boards. When Kaori and Mac went to get off, Hiro tripped Mac and sent him tumbling down the bus stairs.

"Hiro! What was that for!" Kaori was upset. Hiro was much older, so why was he acting like a kid? Kaori bent down to see if Mac was okay. His lip was bleeding, but nothing serious..

Mac wiped off the blood and turned to Hiro. "What the fuck man?" Then he turned back to Kaori (who was wide-eyed wondering what "fuck" meant). "Let's go."

"Dude, you can't hurt me either way!"

Kaori was so amazed. Everywhere she looked, there were people in stands. Fans were cheering on their idols, it just made Kaori so happy to know that this was what brought people together.

Zoe and Moby had a good "bus date". It was fun. They ate, talked, laughed, then started all over again. Once they were almost to the Snowdream track, the bud hit a huge bump, which sent everyone flying in the air. Zoe was eating cherry jello that Moby got for her and she almost choked on it.

"That was so much fun!" Zoe said as they made their way to the front of the bus.

"I knew it would be."

"So, your father's name is..."

"Amos. My mother?"

"Kiona and your brothers are Jimar and Delmar, 13 and 17."

When they got off, they headed straight to the middle of the starting line, to find Elise and JP already there.

"Oh sorry honey, the middle is for people _with_ Daddy's back home." Elise was starting, of course.

"Don't talk to the lady that way." Moby was so kind defending Zoe.

"Why don't you make her...Momma's Boy." JP, no!

"Moby, let's go." Zoe put her arm through his and nudged him toward the other end of the line, where there were some spots left.

"Whatever Cloe." Elise put her tinted goggles on.

"It's Zoe."

"Whatever, you're still gonna loose. With JP and me as a team, we're unstoppable _and_ unbeatable." Elise got right in Zoe's face. "Just so ya know."

"Oh yeah? We'll see 'bout that."

"Right."

"Come on everybody! Get in line." Mr. Kyle called as he approached the starting line. "Now, you _will_ be taped...because...we're making a video game!" All eight players were cheering so loudly, you could barely hear yourself think. "Okay, okay." Once the noise calmed down, he continued. "We are going to race three times at six different locations. Then, you can go home. Depending on how popular the game is, we might create a sequel, which means we would invite some of you back."

"What do you mean by some?" Mac called, on Kaori's left. Hiro was on the other side giving him a just-assume-and-don't-act-like-an-idiot look.

"Well, some people won't be popular in the game; so we'll cut them and invite new players by looking through the applications again. Now enough of that. Are you ready to race Snowdream?"

"YEAH!" Everyone- fans and competitors alike, were screaming of excitement.

"Okay. In three...two...one...BEGIN!"

The top three included Elise, JP, and Jurgen. Zoe was convinced that Moby was going to play nice (as hard as it would be). He had other ideas. Because in the next round, every chance he got, Moby would push JP as hard as possible. Getting JP in third with Moby in first and Jurgen in second..

Before the final round, Zoe went up to Moby to talk to him. "Moby! Don't do that again!"

"Do what?"

"Push JP! You pushed him so hard, I think you you might have left bruises in some places!"

"Places that would make it hard to board?"

"_Nawt_ funny."

"Okay, fine. It won't happen again. Promise."

"Okay."

Moby kept his promise; because he played clean. JP wasn't playing as well; Moby must have left bruises on his side, because he had trouble turning. In the end, Jurgen won followed by Elise in second, with Hiro in third. Kaori went over to congratulate him. Afterward, Hiro approached Mac. "Not so good _now_?"

"Whatever." Hiro walked away. Mac said under his breath. "Amateur."

"What did you just say?"

"Oh nothing. Just that you're a show-offing amateur jerk!"

"Good! Because, Kaori likes no wait, _loves_ a winner. Not a, what was it, _sixth_ place?"

"Just can it." Mac pushed Hiro. Luckily, Mr. Kyle started to speak before it got worse.

"Okay, that's enough for today. Meet on the bus with all of your things at seven. We go to France next. See you tomorrow."


	10. Chapter 9

After Snowdream, they went to race at Elysium Alps, Mesablanca, and Mercury City. When they got to Tokyo Megaplex however, Kaori got a huge surprise.

"Taro! What are you doing here? How did you get to be a VIP?"

"These are the designs I was working on." Taro revealed a blueprint on his iPad that looked just like Tokyo Megaplex. "For you… Kaori, I'm so proud of you and I wanted to express it by designing a freestyle snowboard course for you. When you got into SSX, I got in touch with My. Kyle, and he helped me make my dream a reality."

Kaori was in tears. "Thank you Taro. Thank you so much." He pulled her into a big hug.

After Tokyo, they still had Aloha Ice Jam, Pipedream, and Untracked. Kaori's favorites were Tokyo Megaplex and Untracked. It was an experience that she would never forget. On the last day, she got everyone's contact information, and invited Mac to come visit her and he did the same.

"Race you to the bottom!" Hiro stated, then went off. To celebrate the end of SSX, Jurgen and Hiro were having one final race down Untracked.

Jurgen got in front of Hiro soon enough. He turned to give off a bragging face when he hit a rock that sent him flying. His board flew off and soon enough, he was on the ground. "Ah! my leg!"

"Yeah right Jurg. Or Jerk!" The two always harassed each other for fun. Hiro went to pass Jurgen, thinking that he would get back up as to show that he was faking. But when Hiro passed, he too hit an unclear jump and broke his arm. "My arm! I think it's broken." _Well, so much for Tricky._


End file.
